Windrow turning apparatus are a specialized type of raking apparatus that are used to turn windrows that have become laden with moisture due to exposure to rain or snow. A top layer of a windrow that has been exposed to rain or snow, rapidly dries as a result of the action of the sun and wind. A bottom layer of a windrow remains moist and will experience deterioration, unless the windrow is turned so that the bottom layer can be dried by exposure to sun and wind. It is generally considered advantageous to avoid altering the spacing between the windrows that are turned. When the spacing between the windrows is altered it adversely effects the ability to subsequently process the windrows using other machinery.
A review of the prior art discloses a number of raking apparatus that are adapted to be mounted to the front of a tractor; German Patent 2,359,224; U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,189; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,428. These raking apparatus are not used to turn windrows, but are intended to move two windrows toward each other in order to feed a baling apparatus. Although the patents listed differ in their raking mechanisms, they all have two rakes mounted to a front of a tractor; the rakes being oriented to funnel two windrows inwardly toward a baling apparatus being towed behind the tractor.